Making seams or joints in sheet-metal cylinders.



Patented Oct. 8, I90i.

No. 683,92I.

E. G. E. FFOLKES. MAKING SE A HS 0R JOINTS IN SHEET METAL CYLINDERS.

(Application filed Apr. 26; 1901.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES 7 I fl sh Z/Qfad Attorneys.

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UNITED STATES EDvVARD G. E. FFOLKES, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

PATENT OFFICE.

MAKING SEAMS ORJOINTS lN SHEET-METAL CYLINDERS.

S E ECEFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 683,921, dated. October 8, 1901.

- Application filed April 26, 1901. Serial No. 57,520. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, EDWARD G. E. FFOLKES,

a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Toronto, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Making Seams or Joints in Sheet-Metal Cylinders; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. This invention relates to the making of scams or joints in sheet-metal cylinders; and it has for its object an improvement in the means of securing together the edges of sheet metal. As shown in the drawings and described in the following specification, the sheet of metal is bent to a cylindrical form and the two edges of the same sheet are brought together and secured.

The invention has been especially applied by me to the production of the drums of landrollers; but the invention is equally applicable for securing together the edges of two flat sheets of metal, and it maybe applied to many other structures than that above mentioned, especially in cases where it is desired to have the meeting edges abut one against the other, leaving the external surface of the article or leaving one surface of the article comparatively smooth and free from projections.

In making articles where the two edges are abutted together it has been customary to use a splicing-strip and to drill or bore through the sheets of metal and through the splicingstrip and secure the parts by riveting through the sheets of metal and through the strip; but such a process has disadvantages, as it is difficult to bore or punch the holes faster than the rivets are set, and to bore them only as fast as the rivet is set entails the loss of much time and labor. By my invention the splicing-strip and the rivets are made inte= gral and the strip can be secured to one of the edges throughout its length before the other edge is placed in position to be secured, and the work can progress much more rapidly and much more cheaply and there is much less liability to mistakes or errors.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a sheet of metal bent tocylindrical form and secured to the riveting-strip. At a central point it appears broken away. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the strip. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of a portion of the sheet metal and of the riveting-strip connecting the edges.

A indicates a strip of sheet metal bent to a cylindrical form to form the outside plate of the drum of a land-roller.

B indicates the riveting-strip, which is of some malleable metal adapted to be upset and have heads formed thereon by the riveting process. It is a long strip of metal provided with rivets O,which project therefrom. There is a row of rivets on each side of the strip B, and each rivet is spaced from the next adjacent one by the distance at which it is desired to have the rivet set. That surface of the riveting-strip which is to lie next to the sheet of metal is made to conform to the shape of the article to be made from the sheets. lVith the article described herein, which is cylindrical, the surface I) of the strip B is curved. The surface 0 may be straight or curved, as its shape is not material for the purpose to which the strip is applied. Its shape may be varied to correspond to other requirements,if necessary. Through the edges of the sheet or sheets that are to be joined are punched holes, which correspond in distance from center to center with the distance from center to center of the rivetpoints 0 and which are set back from the edge of the sheet a distance to correspond with half the distance from center to center between the rows of rivet-points O. The riveting-strip B is placed with one row of rivets O engaging through the holes of the edges to be secured thereto, and the rivets are headed down in the ordinary way. The other edge to be secured to the riveting-strip is next placed over -the other line of rivets and the rivet-points headed down thereover.

Inasmuch as each of the rivet-points forms a part or portion of the integral strip B, the work of backing up' against the rivetinghammer is made much more easy and the security of the joint is made much more perfect. Furthermore, each riveting-point is aided by the strip and there is no possibility of any one of the rivets leaving its seat because of imperfect Work in the first instance or of wear afterward.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. A riveting splicing-strip for securing the edges of sheet metal, consisting of a strip of metal with two rows of rivet-points projecting therefrom, substantially as described.

2. A riveting splicing-strip for securing the edges of sheet metal consisting of a strip of metal with two rows of riveting-points projecting therefrom, and with the surface from which the points project made to conform to the shape of the article to be made from the sheets of metal, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two Witnesses.

EDYVARD G. E. FFOLKES.

Witnesses:

LAURA MCBRIDE, D. SANDERS. 

